Cesar stared at the purse and gulped dryly, a few bills … just a few bills. If he was to take a few bills from the purse no one would know, right? But just as he was prepared to snatch a few bills out of the purse, he was reminded of what his mother had told him ——' Make me proud Cesar.'
If these words were spoken by the sorry excuse of his father he would have ignored him outright but it was his mother who has asked him to do something that would make her proud. He could snatch a few bills but … that wouldn't make his mother proud, instead, it would make her feel guilty, guilty of not providing a good life for her children. Guilty of not being able to do enough for her children and failing as a mother, if he couldn't do anything to make his mother proud then at least he shouldn't do anything that would make her feel guilty.
So, he dropped his hand to the side and chased after the Middle aged man who was walking in front of him. " Professor Clark! Wait, you dropped something!" It was better for him to hand this temptation to the owner before his determination was once again shaken up.
Professor Clark was a middle-aged man with a walrus-like body, a few strands of hair on his completely bald head and eyes that were even more rat-like than those mice found in the gutter. Professor Clark stopped as he turned to look at Cesar with a surprised expression on his face, he adjusted the glasses on his nose and then calmly yet sternly said, " Cesar, I am afraid that I have told you many times not to run in the corridor? Why are you running like that for? do you have a train to catch?"
" I... I had a reason," Cesar knew that the school rules didn't allow him to run in the corridor so he hurriedly apologised before handing the purse to Professor Clark. " You dropped it behind professor, I was chasing after you to hand it to you."
" Oh dear, Oh dear," professor Clark immediately reached for the back pockets of his pants and when he didn't feel the purse, his face blanched and he immediately took the purse from Cesar's hands. " Oh thank you, dear boy, this is my entire month's salary if it was lost then I and my family would have had a really tough time this month. Good of you to hand it over to me."
Cesar didn't say anything but he was indeed a bit happy after being praised by professor Clark, before this he was always scolded or reprimanded, this was his first time being praised and that too so generously at that! He smiled shyly before muttering, " There is no need to thank me, Sir. I will be going then."
Professor Clark stared at the torn school uniform and decade-old shoes that Cesar was wearing though he hadn't missed the grumbling noises that were coming from Cesar's stomach this morning. He pondered over the situation for a little while before he stopped Cesar, " Hey boy come here for a second."
" Yes?" Why was professor Clark stopping him? Did he see him holding his purse while being torn between stealing the money or not? If so why did he not say anything before? Cesar had a guilty conscience and even though he didn't steal a single dollar from the purse he couldn't help but be nervous. Anyone who saw him holding the purse would think that he might have another motive, if so then he was in so much trouble!
However, when he came to stop in front of professor Clark, the latter didn't scold him on the contrary he took out a twenty dollars bill from his pocket and handed it to Cesar. " Here you go boy, make sure to buy something nice and filling to eat in the cafeteria. A young boy like you needs a lot of nutrition, don't go hungry like you did this morning."
Cesar wanted to refuse but when his stomach grumbled loudly he couldn't help but take the twenty dollar bills from professor Clark. At least with these twenty dollars, he would be able to get a decent meal for a few days, he hurriedly thanked professor Clark who waved his hands and told him to bother before asking him to go and look for something to eat in the cafeteria.
" Andrew, are you really going to be upset with me like this? I told you that I am sorry didn't I?" Rosy looked at Andrew who was heading to the table where the boys had their lunch instead of going with her to their table and couldn't help but stop him by clenching the sleeves of his jacket. " I was scared this morning and did something wrong, can't you just let it slide?"
" Rosy, I am not angry at you." Andrew shrugged off Rosy's hands and sighed when she looked at him with an aggrieved expression. " I just want to spend some time with my friends can't I even do that?"
These days Andrew sensed that Rosy was getting more and more clingy to him, she no longer allowed him to meet his friends or talk to them. Even if he was to call and chat a little with his friends she would have something to say about it, all in all, she was being real annoying at the moment.
He shook her hand away and then walked to the table where his friends from the football team were sitting ignoring Rosy's angry and flushed face.
" Come on, Rose." Rosy's friend tugged at her wrist with a nervous look on her face. " You don't need to look at Andrew like that, he might really just want to talk to his friends and nothing more."
Rosy however looked at the table where Andrew was sitting and bit her lips as she shook her head. " He has never done something like this before, he must really be angry with me——"
"Goodness…what is he doing here?" Rosy was interrupted by her friend's sudden exclamation, surprised she turned to look at where her friend was looking and her expression turned even worse. " What is that loser doing here?"